A FLY-TIPPING mountain described as the worst case in Barnsley’s long-running battle against illegal dumpers must have been ferried to the countryside spot by an HGV, a parish councillor believes.

The incident, which is believed to have happened last Friday night near Great Houghton, saw those responsible cut through a heavy-duty chain which had prevented access onto the secluded lane off Moor Lane, which leads to Grimethorpe.

The access road, which is used to get to a farmer’s field, is also shared by water company Severn Trent, whose staff are gathering evidence before passing on their findings to the Environment Agency.

At a site visit on Tuesday, documents containing names and addresses were found.

Sean Box, from Severn Trent, said: “Whoever is responsible must have driven past and seen it was a secluded area away from the road.

“It’s blocked off by a barrier that’s chained, but that was sheared off and they’ve then reversed up 100 metres or so before dumping.

“When I got the call to come and check to see what’s required to remove it I presumed I’d be met by a few bags and maybe a mattress like usual, but this waste clearly came from a HGV as there’s a massive amount.

“As an example, small removals cost more than £300 so this one will comfortably stretch to four figures.”

According to Barnsley Council, who spent £321,640 removing fly-tipping in 2016/17 a figure that reduced to £226,776 in 2017/18 clean-ups on private land are the responsibility of the landowner.

However, official figures from the local authority reveal incidents relating to private land tipping stood at 214 in 2017/18 - a tenfold rise on the previous year’s 14 incidents.

Kevin Osborne, of Little Houghton Parish Council, told the Chronicle that evidence-gathering is the key to finding the culprits - and reporting any information to the Environment Agency which has more powers to take action.

“Barnsley Council cannot be criticised as it’s not their responsibility but dumping waste on private land is incredibly costly to landowners who have no choice but to pay for its removal,” he added.

“This particular case is the worst I’ve ever seen in Barnsley - in places it’s higher than a fully-grown man and there has to be tonnes in weight that’s clearly come from a HGV.

“It appears the waste is made up of materials maybe from a house renovation. It’s an environmental crime, the worst of its kind, and it’s happening in Barnsley.

“They have come prepared and have sheared through a chain so they know full well what they are doing.”

A spokesperson from the National Farmers’ Union (NFU) said there has been a year-on-year increase of incidents on farmland since 2013.

“Fly-tipping cases such as this really have become the scourge of the countryside,” they added. “The rubbish can be costly and time-consuming for farmers and landowners to remove, it’s dangerous to human health, harmful to wildlife and livestock and in some cases, fly-tipped waste pollutes watercourses and contaminates land.

“While farmers and landowners do all they can to prevent fly-tippers, such as installing gates, barriers, warning signs and installing security cameras and lighting, in many cases we have found that deterrents do not work.

“These fly-tippers are people intent on breaking the law and they think nothing of cutting padlocks, breaking gates and smashing cameras.

“We believe better communication between government, local authorities, police forces and the Environment Agency will give those impacted more confidence to report incidents that in turn will lead to investigation and prosecution.”